Writing tips

As part of my MFA, I critique a lot of writers' work. At school, we're taught to look for specific problems. One of the problems is distancing. This is when writers use POV and words/phrases that take readers further from the story. Instead of feeling like you're right there with the main character running from the bad guy, you feel like you're Joe or Sue or Davey reading about the scene on your couch.

So how to avoid distancing?

Hmm...I can think of a few ways, right off the bat.
1. Watch for the word "was" and all its forms. This little guy tends to distance rather quickly, and it's usually easy to replace the "was" with something else.
2. Same as above, except for words ending in -ing.
Now, of course, the occasionally was and -ing is okay, but if you look at a paragraph and you've got was in there 3 times, that's a problem.
3. Other words also tend to distance..."felt," "wondered," "thought" are big ones. Instead of having the character feel something, (Joe felt angry), have Joe do something to SHOW the reader he's angry (Joe kicked the chair).

Got it? Okay. I hope that helped.